o-Trityl phenoxy-imino vanadium (III) complexes: synthesis,characterization, and catalysis on ethylene (co)polymerization

Several phenoxy-imine ligands bearing o-trityl group in phenoxy moiety RN=CHArOH (Ar = C₆H₂(CPh₃)^tBu, R = 2,6-Me₂C₆H₃ ( L ₁ H ); 2,6-ⁱPr₂C₆H₃ ( L ₂ H ); 3,5-(CF₃)₂C₆H₃ ( L ₃ H ); 3,5-(OMe)₂C₆H₃ ( L ₄ H ); CHPh₂ ( L ₅ H ); CPh₃ ( L ₆ H )) were synthesized and characterized by¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The vanadium complexes based on these ligands LVCl₂(THF)₂ ( 1–6 ) were synthesized via conventional transmetalation reaction in moderate to high yields. Complexes 1–6 were fully characterized by FT-IR, elemental analyses and the molecular structures of 1 , 2 ·H₂O, (2 ·H₂O ) ₂ (μ-Cl) ₂ , 4 , and 5 were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis in which the six-coordinated vanadium centers are in a typical octahedral geometry. Upon activation with Et₂AlCl in toluene, complexes 1–6 showed high activities in ethylene polymerization affording polymers with moderate molecular weight (5.9–11.8 × 10⁴ Da). Moreover, in hexane or CH₂Cl₂, 1–6 /Et₂AlCl exhibited enhanced activities. When activated with MAO or MMAO in toluene, these complexes showed relatively low activities but afforded polymers with ultra-high molecular weight (up to 3.30 × 10⁶ Da). 1–6 /Et₂AlCl also showed high activities in ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization at room temperature giving moderate molecular-weight polymers (6.5–11.4 × 10⁴ Da) with co-monomer incorporation being of 6.0 ~ 7.8%.     

Gravitational wave imprint of new symmetry breaking

It is believed that there are more fundamental gauge symmetries beyond those described by the Standard Model of particle physics. The scales of these new gauge symmetries are usually too high to be reachable by particle colliders. Considering that the phase transition (PT) relating to the spontaneous breaking of new gauge symmetries to the electroweak symmetry might be strongly first order, we propose considering the stochastic gravitational waves (GW) arising from this phase transition as an indirect way of detecting these new fundamental gauge symmetries. As an illustration, we explore the possibility of detecting the stochastic GW generated from the PT of \begin{document}$ {\bf{B}}-{\bf{L}}$\end{document} in the space-based interferometer detectors. Our study demonstrates that the GW energy spectrum is reachable by the LISA, Tianqin, Taiji, BBO, and DECIGO experiments only for the case where the spontaneous breaking of \begin{document}$ {\bf{B}}-{\bf{L}}$\end{document} is triggered by at least two electroweak singlet scalars.     

2005～2017年快速城市化背景下洱海流域不透水表面时空格局分析

近年来随着我国经济建设的不断加快以及城市化的快速发展,工业和人口的大规模聚集造成了不透水表面的快速扩张,这对城市生态环境产生了严重的影响。作为城市化水平的关键指示因子,不透水表面已经被广泛应用在城市生态环境评估中。为了定量的分析洱海流域不透水表面拓展的时空动态特征规律,本文以大理市所在的洱海流域为研究对象,利用2005年至2017年的大理市Landsat 5、Landsat 8遥感影像,提取归一化水体指数(MNDWI)和归一化差值不透水表面指数(NDISI)对洱海流域的城市、道路进行空间分析并提取出不透水表面信息进行空间格局分析。研究结果表明：2005~2017年间,随着城市化的快速发展,洱海流域的植被覆盖率和水体等自然地物覆盖率处于下降状态,而不透水覆盖率从11.6%上升到19.8%,呈现快速持续上升趋势。由洱海水质和其流域内不透水覆盖率线性拟合结果可以得到两者具有一定的负相关性。可以预见洱海水质未来发展中随着不透水覆盖率的增长而下降。因此,在城市发展的同时,应该注重对洱海的综合治理,不能任水质自行调节。本研究结果为洱海流域内城市规划管理和流域(水)环境治理提供参考信息,具有重要的现实意义。     

Recent Progress on Nickel-Based Oxide/(Oxy)Hydroxide Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Developing clean and sustainable energies as alternatives to fossil fuels is in strong demand within modern society. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the efficiency-limiting process in plenty of key renewable energy systems, such as electrochemical water splitting and rechargeable metal–air batteries. In this regard, ongoing efforts have been devoted to seeking high-performance electrocatalysts for enhanced energy conversion efficiency. Apart from traditional precious-metal-based catalysts, nickel-based compounds are the most promising earth-abundant OER catalysts, attracting ever-increasing interest due to high activity and stability. In this review, the recent progress on nickel-based oxide and (oxy)hydroxide composites for water oxidation catalysis in terms of materials design/synthesis and electrochemical performance is summarized. Some underlying mechanisms to profoundly understand the catalytic active sites are also highlighted. In addition, the future research trends and perspectives on the development of Ni-based OER electrocatalysts are discussed.     

基于交通信号灯信息的混合动力汽车节能预测控制方法

针对传统混合动力汽车控制方法不考虑已知道路交通信号灯信息对车辆能量管理影响的问题,提出了基于交通信号灯信息的混合动力汽车节能预测控制智能优化策略。通过建立混合动力汽车系统的简化模型,并采用连续广义最小残量方法求解模型预测控制问题。运用MATLAB/Simulink进行仿真,仿真结果验证了交通信号灯信息模型的有效性,以及所设计的模型预测控制算法大幅度提高混合动力汽车的燃油经济性的能力和实时控制性能。研究结果表明所提出的控制策略可以实现车辆行驶轨迹的优化控制,显著提高了车辆的燃油经济性,并满足系统的实时最优控制要求。     

中国大气颗粒物污染与致癌研究进展

 室外空气污染和污染空气中的颗粒物是一类致癌物，而近年中国的大气颗粒物污染仍然维持在较高浓度水平。通过综述中国近年大气颗粒物污染现状和开展的颗粒物致癌机制研究，分析中国研究中颗粒物有关实验动物致癌性的证据和颗粒物致癌的人群流行病学线索，阐述大气颗粒物与癌症的关系，提出中国亟需开展相关研究。     

Twining Poly(polyoxometalate) Chains into Nanoropes

Organic polymers and inorganic clusters belong to two different disciplines and have completely different properties and structures. When a cluster is attached to the backbone of a polymer as a pendant, the resultant hybrid polymers (polyclusters) exhibit unique behaviours totally different from those of conventional polymers owing to the nanoscale size of the cluster and its particular interactions. Herein, the aggregation of a poly(polyoxometalate)—a polynorbornene backbone with inorganic polyoxometalate cluster pendants—upon addition of a non-solvent to its dilute solution is reported. A three-dimensional network of tangled and snake-like nanothreads was observed. Direct visualisation of individual nanoscale clusters enabled identification of single chains within the nanothreads. These observations suggest that during the process of aggregation, the hybrid polymer forms curved or extended chains as a consequence of an armouring effect in which the collapsed cluster pendants wrap around the backbone. The collapse occurs because they become less soluble in the solvent/non-solvent mixture. The extended chains then become entwined and form nanoropes consisting of multiple chains wound around each other. This study provides a deeper understanding of the nature of polyclusters and should also prove useful for their future development and application.     

Studies on metabolism of total glucosides of paeony from Paeoniae Radix Alba in rats by UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS/MS

Total glucosides of paeony are the active constituents of Paeoniae Radix Alba. In this study, a novel strategy was proposed to find more metabolites and the differences between paeoniflorin, albiflorin and total glucosides of paeony (TGP). This strategy was characterized as follows: firstly, the animals were divided into three groups (paeoniflorin, albiflorin and TGP) to identify the source of TGP metabolites from paeoniflorin or albiflorin; secondly, a generic information‐dependent acquisition scan for the low‐level metabolites was triggered by the multiple mass defect filter and dynamic background subtraction; thirdly, the metabolites were identified with a combination of data‐processing methods including mass defect filtering, neutral loss filtering and product ion filtering; finally, a comparative study was used in the metabolism of paeoniflorin, albiflorin and TGP. Based on the strategy, 18 metabolites of TGP, 10 metabolites of paeoniflorin and 13 metabolites of albiflorin were identified respectively. The results indicated that the hydrolysis, conjugation reaction and oxidization were the major metabolic pathways, and the metabolic sites were the glycosidic linkage, the ester bond and the benzene ring. This study is first to explore the metabolism of TGP, and these findings enhance our understanding of the metabolism and the interactions of paeoniflrin and albiflorin in TGP. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new strategy for synthesis of branched cyclic peptide by Asn side-chain hydrazide ligation

Here, we report a new strategy for rapid synthesis of branched peptide by side-chain hydrazide ligation at Asn. The hydrazide was converted to thioester at Asn side chain by NaNO₂ and thiol reagent, and sequential ligation with an N-terminus Cys-peptide efficiently afforded the branched peptide. A branched cyclic peptide was successfully synthesized by side-chain ligation with a two-Cys-peptide and formation of a disulfide bond. This approach provides a new way for expeditious synthesis of branched peptides and facilitates the design of neopeptides as functional bio-mimics.